There have been some fine videos on YouTube recently, all showing the high standard of musicianship Tuba Skinny have achieved and also demonstrating the great care they take in preparing music for performance. May I recommend watching these? Thanks to all the generous video-makers who share these performances with the rest of the world.
(1) LET THE FOUR WINDS BLOW
'Let the Four Winds Blow' was composed by Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino in 1955. It's a 16-bar tune [8+8]. It has an archetypical chord progression and is played here in the key of A flat. Essentially, the chord progression uses the final eight bars of the standard 12-bar blues. You find the same pattern in 'The Girls Go Crazy' and 'New Orleans Hula' and 'Redwing' and the Chorus of 'Down By the Riverside' - to name just a few. It's also used in 'All Night Long' which Tuba Skinny sometimes perform and which is remarkably similar in melody to 'Let The Four Winds Blow', though they play 'All Night Long' in the key of C: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sekUsowRYeM
(2) KISS ME SWEET
'Kiss Me Sweet' was composed by Steve J. Lewis and Armand J. Piron in 1923. Like Piron, Tuba Skinny play it in the key of C; and they play the 16-bar Verse only once. Also like Piron they take Bars 7 and 8 of the 20-bar Chorus as a 'break'. You can hear Todd play it at 1 min 14 secs and 3 mins 45 secs, Barnabus at 1 min 52 secs, Craig at 2 mins 29 secs, Max at 3 mins 08 secs and Robin at 4 mins 22 secs. There is an amusing Coda in the Piron recording which - surprisingly - Tuba Skinny omit, though they have a lovely rallentando ending. The interesting rhythmic backing to Craig's solo is the kind of thing Tuba Skinny devise and execute so well, as is the way Craig and Shaye play harmonies behind Barnabus's solo chorus. Though Tuba Skinny choose not to have a vocal, there are words to this tune. For the words of the Chorus, go to Piron's original recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7HuZNF77IQ - or if you would like to hear the words of the Verse as well as the Chorus, go to the King Oliver recording (he plays it in the key of G):
20-bar Choruses are unusual, though there was a fashion for them at the time. Think of 'After You've Gone', 'What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes At Me For?', 'Oh You Beautiful Doll', 'The Darktown Strutters Ball', 'Drop That Sack', 'Hard-Hearted Hannah', 'You've Got the Right Key but the Wrong Keyhole' and 'Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries'. One final bit of analysis: when it's Shaye's turn to play the 20-bar Chorus as a solo (2 mins 55 secs), she plays the first six bars and then gives the next two (the break) to Max; she then plays Bars 9 to 12 and leaves the remaining eight to Max. This is a typical Tuba Skinny stratagem - and a lesson to us all in how to make the music interesting. Almost all Tuba Skinny performances are masterclasses for the rest of the world's traditional jazz bands.
(3) JONES LAW BLUES
'Jones Law Blues' is believed to have been composed by Bennie Moten and Count Basie in 1929. What a curious piece of music it is. It starts and finishes firmly in the key of C minor but otherwise contains much in the related key of E flat major. There is a theme in E flat very reminiscent of Ellington and Bigard's 'Saturday Night Function' (at 1 minute 22 secs. - 1 minute 42 secs. and repeated 1 minute 43 secs - 2 mins. 03 secs.). Like 'Jones Law Blues' , 'Saturday Night Function' was composed in 1929, and is in Tuba Skinny's repertoire. Also like 'Saturday Night Function', 'Jones Law Blues' includes several straightforward 12-bar blues sections all in E flat (Barnabus plays the first from 1 minute 02 secs. to 1 min. 17 secs; and later Craig plays a straightforward 12-bar from 2 mins. 09 secs. to 2 mins. 24 secs.; and then another from 2 mins. 25 secs. to 2 mins. 40 secs.; and this is followed by an ensemble 12-bar from 2 mins. 41 secs to 2 mins. 55 secs and yet another from 2 mins. 56 secs. to 3 mins 11 secs, transitioning back into C minor for the finish). Although the original recording by Benny Moten included a saxophone and a piano, Tuba Skinny as ever have produced their rifacimento with enormous respect, even for example in giving prominence to the banjo during the second run-through of the 'Saturday Night Function' theme.
(4) CUSHION FOOT STOMP
For the benefit of anyone who may have difficulty following the ichnography of jazz classics from the 1920s, here's the lay-out of this one. Although Tuba Skinny sensibly do not include the scat vocal to be found on the original Clarence Williams recording, the Coda and Shaye's 'decorations' (exactly as cornet-player Ed Allen provided on the 1927 recording) illustrate well the band's attention to detail when they set about producing a rifacimento of a classic recording from the past. Like Clarence Williams, they play the piece in the key of E flat.
(1) EIGHT-BAR INTRODUCTION : 28 seconds - 38 seconds.
(2) THEME A (standard 12-bar) : 39 secs. - 54 secs. Craig leading with the main melody.
(3) THEME B (24 bars) : Todd leading, with Shaye 'decorating' : 55 secs. - 1 min. 27 secs.
(4) THEME B (24 bars) : Craig leading, with Shaye 'decorating’ : 1 min. 28 secs - 1 min. 59 secs.
(5) THEME A (the 12-bar again) : 2 mins. 00 secs. - 2 mins. 16 secs.
(6) BRIDGE (4 bars, leading into THEME C): 2 mins. 17 secs. - 2 min. 21 secs.
(7) THEME C [Classically known as the TRIO. This is the Main Theme on which the piece settles, and is used as the basis for improvised solos] (16 bars, always with a ‘break’ on Bars 7 and 8) : Taken by Barnabus, and indeed with the ‘break’ : 2 mins. 22 secs. – 2 mins. 43 secs. (You can hear his ‘break’ at 2 mins. 30 secs. - 2 mins. 32 secs.)
(8) THEME C : Taken by Craig and including the ‘break’ - 2 mins. 44 secs. – 3 mins. 04 secs.
(9) THEME C : Taken by Shaye and including the ‘break’ - 3 mins. 05 secs. – 3 mins. 26 secs.
(10) THEME C : Taken by Jason and including the ‘break’ - 3 mins. 27 secs. – 3 mins. 47 secs.
(11) THEME C : Taken by Todd and including the ‘break’ - 3 mins. 48 secs. – 4 mins. 08 secs.
(12) THEME C : Taken by Robin and including the ‘break’ - 4 mins. 09 secs. – 4 mins. 29 secs.
(13) THEME C : Taken by the full ensemble but with collective ‘break’ on signal from Shaye - 4 mins. 30 secs. – 4 mins. 50 secs.
(14) CODA (4 bars) : Initiated by Robin – 4 mins.51 secs – 4 mins. 59 secs.
(5) SLUE FOOT
This is a Doc Cooke number from 1927. After the exacting Introduction, it seems to me we have six very varied 12-bar blues Choruses in the key of F (first one starting at 39 secs, second at 53 secs, third at 1 min. 07 secs., and so on, with the sixth at 1 min. 51 secs.); then at 2 mins. 05 secs. 32 bars very challenging for the rhythm players (offbeats, etc.) while Shaye leads with the melody, followed (at 2 mins. 45 secs.) by two 12-bar choruses led by Craig (but now having switched seamlessly to the key of B flat) - and again with demanding rhythmic accompaniment which I guess is repeatedly meant to be saying 'Slue Foot!'; and finally (3 mins. 14 secs.) Shaye leading the full band through three more 12-bar Choruses (staying in B flat) and the 2-bar rallentando Coda. Is that about right? Wow! What a tricky piece to play!
(6) TOO LATE
With Rhadamanthine scrupulosity, Tuba Skinny follow the example of King Oliver's 1929 recording by dropping from the key of E flat to C for one chorus only - the second. It is a 32-bar tune with a simple chord progression. Shaye is not one of those flashy players who use lots of high notes to show off their technique but who have very little ‘soul’. However, in this tune she plays the highest note she has ever played in a YouTube video – the Bb concert at 3 minutes 53 seconds. A historic moment! The reason for this is not to show off but because she is faithfully copying the King Oliver version – where that same phrase is played in the trumpet ‘break’ (bars 15 and 16 of the 32). This performance was given on 16 April, 2018 in Royal Street, New Orleans.
(7) ELYSIAN FIELDS
What a curious piece this composition in G minor by Shaye is! We usually think of our music coming in multiples of 4 bars (e.g. 8 bar sections, 16-bar themes, 12-bar blues, 32-bar complete choruses); but 'Elysian Fields' does not quite conform. Although it seems to have a sixteen-bar theme (8 + 8) - as played at the start, and an eight-bar theme (first played at 1 min 38 secs), the band three times chooses to add an extra 'pause' bar, turning 8 into 9 and turning 16 into 17. Check it out: you can hear 'pause' bars at 1 minute 55 secs, 2 mins 46 secs and 3 mins 21 secs.
(8) I GOT THE CRYIN' BLUES
It's good to hear Tuba Skinny re-visiting this song from their early repertoire. As you can hear, it has an 8-bar Verse and a 16-bar Chorus (sometimes 16 + two-bar tag: you can hear Erika sing the tag at 2 mins 21 - 2 mins 24; and you can hear Shaye play it at 1 min 41 - 1 min 44, and again right at the end, before the Coda). It is interesting to note how the presentation has changed over the years. When it was included in the Tuba Skinny album 'Pyramid Strut', recorded in 2013, they took it considerably more slowly but - as here - in the key of E flat. Shaye chose to play violin rather than cornet; and they had Westen Borghesi on banjo and Jon Doyle on clarinet. 'I Got The Cryin' Blues' was composed by Sara Martin and Tom Johnson. It was recorded in New York by Sara Martin and her Jug Band in September 1924. Sara had just a 3-piece band: Clifford Hayes on violin, Cal Smith on banjo and Earl McDonald on jug. In deciding where to play the two-bar tags, Tuba Skinny have punctiliously followed the original Sara Martin recording.
(9) GOT NO BLUES
This is a super tribute to the Hardin/Armstrong original. I love the sensible way Shaye tackles Louis' two-bar cornet break at 32 seconds. Note - if you haven't already - how Jason's banjo interlude (54 seconds to 1 minute 05 seconds) slides us from the key of Eb to F. And then in her remarkable link (1 minute 48 seconds to 1 minute 54 seconds) a few notes from Shaye transpose us back to Eb, passing the tune firmly on to Craig to lead in that key. In this double key-change, they are replicating exactly what happens on the original Louis Armstrong recording. This is a good example of the meticulous care they take in preparing such tunes for public performance.
(10) PERDIDO STREET BLUES
This is an interesting performance of a tricky blues which - let us not forget - was written by one of the great LADY composers - Lil Hardin. It is all the more impressive that they should play so well on the very first number of a concert. Maybe it was because it was the warm-up number that they played only six 12-bar Choruses and (even by Tuba Skinny's scrupulous standards) wasted no energy on exhibitionism and unnecessary ostentation. For anyone who is not yet aware, the Introduction is in D minor, as is the 16-bar cornet obbligato (26 seconds - 54 seconds), which is played almost entirely over the chord of D minor. Thereafter, you have a series of 12-bar blues in the related key of F major, the first two of which feature the clarinet (55 seconds - 1 minute 17 seconds and 1 minute 18 seconds to 1 minutes 39 seconds). Then the cornet, banjo and trombone take only one each, before there is just one ensemble 12-bar. Finally (at 3 minutes 07 seconds), the clarinet leads us through the famous 4-bar Coda, with the others providing the same rhythmic backing we heard during his earlier two solo choruses. So the whole performance is just 102 bars of music (Intro [10] + Cornet Obbligato [16] + six 12-bar Choruses [72] + Coda [4]).
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Footnote
My book 'Tuba Skinny and Shaye Cohn' is available from Amazon.
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Footnote
My book 'Tuba Skinny and Shaye Cohn' is available from Amazon.
